The Real Reason
by Leveragelover
Summary: "Fine," Eliot growled and then turned to walk into McRorys. When he opened the door what he found was not what he expected. Set during The Scheherazade Job.


**A/N: So this was inspired by alinaandalion's fic **_**be fine this time **_**and this person in the audience at my concert that looked like Maggie. I don't own Leverage!**

_The Real Reason_

Nate wasn't proud of what he had done. Nobody knew though. He sat there doodling on some old sheet music while the metronome ticked quietly in front of him. Unannounced Sophie walked in and threw her purse on the floor and went to go sit down next to Nate.

"I feel horrible," Sophie sighed as she flicked one of his pencils off the conference table just to annoy him

"Why?"

"You know why"

"Look, I know you didn't want to do it but we had no other plan that would work" Nate as added with a slight waver to his voice

Sophie ran her hands through her hair like she always did when she was worried or nervous. "I know, I just don't like the thought that we're using Hardison"

"We're not using Hardison. We're just helping him play like he could when he was younger"

"Why couldn't he have just bought an expensive pair of mallets," Sophie muttered under her breath

"Pair of what?" Nate asked since he hadn't heard what she had said

"Oh, nothing," Sophie waved him off

Nate narrowed his eyes at her, frowning slightly. "Did you play an instrument?"

"Yes," Sophie grumbled

Nates eyes brightened a little. "What did you play?"

"I was a percussionist," Sophie replied monotonously

He cocked his head to the side slightly. "That's interesting. I was a cellist"

Sophie tried to bite back a laugh but failed. "A cellist?"

"Says the percussionist!" Nate snapped back

"I'll be right back," Sophie smirked wickedly and then got up. She went into the kitchen and started digging around for a pair of chopsticks. It wasn't that hard to find a pair since they always had take out Chinese. "I still know how to play Nathan"

"It's not that hard," Nate argued and started banging his pencil on the conference table

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I'd play And The Kitchen Sink, but I'd break these chopsticks into bits in seconds. That and I don't have a snare drum either"

"Well then play something else"

Sophie nodded and started playing a rendition of one of her favorite pieces. It was less complicated and not as fast but she could tell she was impressing Nate. Finally with one loud crack of her sticks she flipped them up in the arm and then swung her arm around and caught them in mid fall. She twirled one in her fingers and tapped Nate on the nose with the end of it. "I'd like to see you do that"

Nate smirked, trying to hide his surprised face. "You're very good"

"Thank you," Sophie smiled a little and she felt her cheeks flush.

"Yeah, so are we ever gonna talk about that kiss?"

Sophie smirked in that damn way that he both hated and loved and the same time.

Nate licked his lips nervously when she didn't respond. "Um, uhhhh, well are you going to say something?"

Sophie leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I think not," she purred before walking out of the apartment.

Nate looked after her as the door closed. His eyes then drifted back over to his paper full of doodles. It was of Sam in his orchestra uniform holding a violin in one hand. The picture made him tear up slightly as he remembered the last concert Sam ever had.

**LEVERAGE**

Nate watched as Maggie dug through her purse looking for the car keys.

"You almost ready Sammy?" Nate yelled down the hall to Sams bedroom

"Yeah!" 7-year-old Sam yelled back. He came pounding down the hall and slide into the room in his shiny black dress shoes.

"You got everything you need sprite?" Nate said as he bent down to Sams height and tousled his hair

"Dad! My hair was perfect in between neat and messy" Sam complained as he fixed his hair

Maggie smiled and walked over to ruffle Nates hair. "That's the Ford way"

Nate fixed his hair instinctively just like his son had.

"Do you have your rosin for your bow?" Maggie asked pointedly

"Yep!"

"Do you have your music?"

"Yes"

"And do you know where to meet us after the concert?"

"East door"

"Well then we're all ready to go" Maggie clasped her hands together and swung her purse over her shoulder.

"Ugh, we're too high up Mag" Nate complained as they sat down in their seats near the top

"Well since someone had to spend forever on their hair we got here late and therefore have bad seats"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Well someone had to spend forever finding the keys in the thing they call an organized purse"

"Oh, shush"

"Don't forget I'm leaving for Vienna next week" Nate reminded her gently

"I know. I'm just glad you convinced Ian to let you post-pone your trip until after Sams concert" Maggie smiled and squeezed his hand gently

The concert started not too long after and Sam and his small ensemble were up first. Nate made sure he was video-tapping and stood up and clapped wildly at the end of his performance. His son was a great violinist for being only 7 years old.

"You did amazing Sam!" Nate cried as he hugged him

"Thanks Daddy" Sam grinned and hugged him back.

"Great job Sammy" Maggie smiled and kissed him on the forehead

They got home quickly and Sam quickly put his stuff away and changed into his favorite pair of skull pajamas. He ran down the hall and jumped on the couch, turning on the TV.

"Come watch TV with me Dad!" Nate yelled into the kitchen

Nate looked up from his book and reluctantly closed it when he saw his sons beaming face. He sat down next to his son and pulled him close. That's when he noticed bruises all over his arms. "Why are there bruises all over your arm? Did someone at school beat you up?"

Sam frowned at looked at his arms. "Huh? When'd that happen?"

Nate knew that he couldn't have acquired that many bruises that were that violent of a share of blueish purple without knowing. In the back of his mind warning bells were ringing and he tried to push them away.

**LEVERAGE**

He wanted to tear his heart out and start slamming it on the table that's how bad he felt. Not only had he used Hardison but he had also lied to him. He didn't even know how Sophie could suffice under the guilt she lived with. Then again she probably didn't even know the truth about this.

Sophie looked up at Eliot with slightly scared eyes as he loomed above her. "No Eliot you can't go in there!"

"Why not Sophie? Give me one good reason I shouldn't go in there and show Nate that he can't just use us like that" Eliot snapped back at her

"He feels horrible for what he did!" Sophie defended hopelessly

Eliot scoffed. "Yeah right"

"Fine you can go yell at him but please don't ruin his pretty face" Sophie gently touched Eliot on the arm

Eliot stared at her for a second. "His pretty face?"

Sophie blushed slightly. "Just don't go making a mess of him"

"Fine," Eliot growled and then turned to walk into McRorys. When he opened the door what he found was not what he expected. Nate was sobbing like a little baby while he downed a bottle of scotch.

"GET OUT!" Nate half sobbed and half yelled

"What's wrong man?" Eliot asked gently as he took a seat next to him

"Don't look at me" Nate said as he put his head down in his arms. He felt ashamed that he was crying.

"Nate, what's wrong? You were fine just a few minutes ago"

"Sa-Sam pl-ay-ayed v-v-iolin" Nate stuttered out in between sobs. "I-I want-ted it-it to fe-feel like it d-did"

Eliot was not good with this emotional stuff but he tried his best. "You wanted it to feel like it did when Sam was alive? To have that same fatherly pride?"

Nate nodded yes; his eyes clenched shut as tears still ran down his face.

"Why didn't you tell Hardison?" Eliot demanded gently

Nate opened his mouth to speak but his jaw was so tight from crying and the burning pain in his throat was so strong that he couldn't speak. Instead he grabbed a pen and some paper from the bar and started furiously writing. It read:

_What I told Hardison was only half the truth. The reason I didn't tell him the other half was because I was afraid this would happen. I wasn't planning on anyone coming back after how much of a bastard I was._

"You shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassed to cry in front of us," Eliot said quietly

He then wrote:

_But I am! Plus what difference would it have made if I told Hardison?_

"He might have understood better," Eliot suggested

Nate shook his head no and wrote:

_I feel horrible that I hypnotized him, used him, LIED to him. I just wanted it to feel like maybe a small part of Sam was still alive._

"You need to tell Hardison even though it may not make a difference"

Nate finally managed to regain a small portion of his voice. "I can't"

"You need to learn how to tell people things," Eliot said firmly

"I can't" Nate replied in a hoarse voice

"Just try and tell him the other half of the truth" Eliot said gently. He looked at Nate one more time before walking out of the bar to leave the Mastermind to his own thoughts.

**THE END.**

**A/N 2: I originally thought of Sophie as a flute player but I like making the characters do things that don't really suit their 'normal' personality.**


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